Ginkgo :
from
the Chinese (later also Japanese) word Ginkyo meaning "silver apricot"
(gin=silver, kyo=apricot). This term is thought to come from a romanized
version for the Chinese ideograph Yin Hsing (Xing).

*Research
in 2005 (revised 2011) by Prof. Wolfgang Michel-Zaitsu of Kyushu
University, Japan, explains a possible answer. At Deshima Kaempfer
got hold of copies of a pictorial dictionary "Kinmôzui". His linguistic
information about Ginkgo was taken from Book 18 (Fruits) in the
1668 edition of this dictionary. As Kaempfer was not able to read this
book he inserted a reference number into each frame and a second number
to mark the Chinese characters. These numbers appear again in notes he
wrote down at Deshima. Many of Kaempfer's notes are
preserved. In "Collectanea Japonica" (British Library, Sloane Collection)
are several pages with the numbers referring to the Chinese characters
in the "Kinmôzui", readings are given in Latin letters. The pronunciation
of the 34th Chinese character is explained wrongly as Ginkgo. This
note shows that the incorrect spelling in the "Amoenitates Exoticae" is
not a result of a simple misprint or misunderstanding by the typesetter
in Lemgo, Germany. It was Kaempfer himself who made a small mistake with
long-lasting consequences.

Ginkgo in "Kinmôzui" 1668

Kaempfer's handwriting in "Collectanea Japonica"

page 811 of "Amoenitates Exoticae"

The Chinese characters are explained
in Japanese as ginkyô. Undoubtedly Kaempfer's Japanese assistant(s)
who explained the characters readings to him pronounced them in the correct
way. Y/g: in Kaempfer's handwriting the y differed significantly
from the g. As both syllables kyo and gyo are consistently
written as kio/kjo and gio/gjo by Kaempfer in his manuscripts
one might expect he should have written Ginkjo or Ginkio
instead of Ginkgo. Back in Lemgo there was no way to check the validity
of his notes on plant names taken in Japan. Therefore the wrong writing
Ginkgo
was transferred from his notes into the "Amoenitates Exoticae".

*
Another possible explanation of the unusual spelling of Ginkgo is found
in an article by Nagata (Hosei University), Duval and Crane (Yale University)
in Taxon of February 2015:Kaempfer's assistant was Genemon
Imamura Eisei, a native of Nagasaki. Analysis of both "Kinmôzui"
and "Amoenitates Exoticae" indicates that Kaempfer faithfully followed
what his interpreter pronounced, using the local dialect of medieval Nagasaki
in plant names.

biloba: two-lobed;
bi
from Latin "bis" meaning double,
loba meaning lobes. The leaf is
fanshaped with a split in the middle, hence two-lobed.

Pronunciation:
GINK-oh by-LO-bah.

Grammar:
gender masculine; plural Ginkgos or Ginkgoes.

Silver apricot:
the
seed has the size and appearance of a small apricot when mature and a silvery
bloom on the fruit.

It is also often called Maidenhair
tree, Ginkgo tree or just Ginkgo:

Maidenhair tree:
the
leaves resemble those of the Maidenhair fern or Adiantum.

Kaempfer mentions a resemblance
between the leaf form of Adiantum monochlamys Eaton and
the Ginkgo

Ginkgo biloba L.:
The
"L" meaning Linnaeus who named it Ginkgo in his classification
in 1771 adding "biloba". E. Kaempfer first called it "Ginkgo" in 1712.

Synonyms:
Salisburia
adiantifolia.The
English botanist Smith (1797) proposed this name to honour Richard A. Salisbury,
another botanist. The internationally accepted classified name Ginkgo biloba
by Von Linné could not be changed however, so it remained a synonym.Pterophyllus salisburiensis,
Nelson 1866.

Dutch:
Ginkgo,
Tempelboom, Waaierboom, Japanse notenboom (this last name originates
from the idea that the tree came from Japan and the seeds resembled nuts,
but now we know this is incorrect and the name is not in common use).

Tree of Forty Gold Crowns:
the leaves turn a beautiful gold colour in fall and/or the Ginkgo was very
expensive to buy in former times.

Wish Tree: Artist
Yoko
Ono (widow of Beatle John Lennon) planted a Ginkgo in Detroit. Her
message: "Wish Tree for Detroit (Michigan). Whisper your wish to the bark
of the tree. Yoko Ono, 2000.""I believe we can create a more positive
future through wishing", Yoko stated.

Panda of the plant kingdom: Analogy
with the Giant Panda's survival in China. Also called "Botanic Giant Panda".

Peace Tree: In
New Bedford (Massachusetts,USA) there's a UN Peace Tree as a community
symbol of hope for world peace: the Ginkgo. It was planted in 1955 by schoolchildren
as a gesture of hope that all governments would join the United Nations
and work toward world peace.